Sustainability is the word on everyone's lips these days, with Phillip Lim designing the organic capsule collection Go Green Go for Barneys, Patagonia announcing its new environmentally-minded Responsibility Initiative, Eileen Fisher encouraging customers to return old EF pieces to the store rather than dump them in the landfill, and the CFDA partnering with Lexus on the annual Eco-Fashion Challenge.

Chicago-based jewelry designer Laura Lombardi has been talking the talk—and walking the walk—since launching her eponymous collection in 2010. Fashioned from deadstock or repurposed materials, Lombardi's creations are eco-chic by default rather than design (so to speak).

"Being environmentally conscious has always been important to me, but the fact that my process fell in line with my values happened organically," said the 25-year-old designer, who began taking pre-college courses at FIT and the School of Visual Arts when she was 13, interned at art galleries from age 16 and attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston after finishing high school.

"I almost exclusively work in vintage brass and copper," she added. "I'm very material oriented; more often than not I'll start designing by seeking out materials that inspire me before I have an actual idea for a piece in mind."

"In favoring themes like repetition, symmetry, and appropriation in the designs, I reference imagery attributed to mysticism, iconography, and classical art in my collections. The jewelry itself has a raw and pared-down feel, yet is able to maintain both a feminine and delicate quality."

Indeed, her burnished metal pieces feel both universal and personal, referencing ceremonial objects, mythology, castle ruins, catacombs, medieval, and Renaissance artwork and artifacts in simple, graphic necklaces, bracelets and earrings—with names like Copia, Decima, and Fortuna—that feel like they've been part of you forever.

"I had always focused in sculpture and mixed media in my art practice; jewelry initially was a way for me to scale down and create something personal for myself," explained the designer. "Now what I love about it is creating these little narratives: telling stories with my collections and seeing how people relate to each piece, and how it fits in to their lives."